PATRIOTS: It's already been a month to forget

We’re not even halfway through February and it’s already been a month to remember in a forgettable way when it comes to the Patriots and their football fandom.

First, the five-time Lombardi Trophy winners were outplayed and outscored by the Philadelphia Eagles last Sunday, dropping a 41-33 decision in Super Bowl LII. The Eagles, unlike so many pretenders before them, were unintimidated and aggressive from start to finish and didn’t beat themselves with dumb penalties and dumber decisions.

That cornerback Malcolm Butler didn’t play a single defensive snap as Nick Foles abused the likes of Johnson Bademosi, Jordan Richards and, for a time, Eric Rowe while passing for 373 yards and three touchdowns continues to remain a topic of conversation throughout New England.

We’ll know the answer to the benching when Butler comes clean because coach Bill Belichick will never reveal the truth. The latest theory is Butler, who started 17 of 18 games and played a team-high 97.8 percent of the snaps coming in, was told right before kickoff he wasn’t starting, tossed a temper tantrum and then was severely disciplined for his insubordination.

Still, a week later it’s hard to erase the sight and sound of defensive captain Duron Harmon during his postgame interview.

Harmon is credited with rallying the Patriots to their unbelievable and unforgettable victory over the Atlanta Falcons last year in Super Bowl LI with his rousing halftime speech.

But after losing to the Eagles, the always affable Harmon was clearly bitter while answering multiple questions about Butler’s benching with a variation of the same response: “You have to ask coach. I play football, he makes the personnel decisions.”

That’s true, but Harmon clearly didn’t agree with the decision. Same goes for many of his teammates. They spent the past seven months working toward this moment, only to see their efforts come unhinged with one indefensible decision.

Then, in the game’s aftermath, you had All-Pro tight end Rob Gronkowski failing to confirm he’d return next season. That’s since led to speculation he’ll retire to pursue a career in acting or, more likely, he’s looking for his contract to be renegotiated.

The reasoning for retirement is Gronk has taken tons of abuse in his eight NFL seasons, undergoing forearm surgery four times and back surgery three times, twice landing on season-ending injured reserve and suffering the first documented concussion of his career this season. But we’ve also been led to believe by Gronk himself that his health has never been better since he started following the TB12 Method.

So which is it?

On Tuesday, offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels informed the Indianapolis Colts he would be their next coach, only to execute a U-turn a few hours later and tell them he decided to remain with the Patriots. McDaniels was talked into staying by owner Robert Kraft and Belichick, who, many now believe, will step aside next season, to which we say fat chance.

No matter how it went down, keeping McDaniels is a huge score for an organization that saw defensive coordinator Matt Patricia depart Monday to become coach of the Detroit Lions. There’s also a possible trickle-down effect as special teams coach Joe Judge, who was set to join McDaniels in Indy, is now likely to remain in New England.

So that means three-fourths of the coaching brain trust will return. That continuity is going to be especially vital because the Patriots appear poised to have some serious — even by NFL standards — roster turnover this year.

Still, there's a black mark on McDaniels for going back on his word and the Patriots for urging him to do so.

To cap it off, ex-Pat Jimmy Garoppolo signed a record-breaking, $137.5-million contract Thursday to be the quarterback of the San Francisco 49ers for the next five years. That came two days after the NFL set the 2018 draft order for the first round, one in which the Cleveland Browns pick fourth overall (in addition to first, after going 0-16).

The Browns were willing to send their second first-rounder to the Patriots for Garoppolo in late October had Belichick reached out to them — as they had reached out to him in the past when inquiring about the availability of the young, promising QB. Instead, Belichick opted only to deal with San Fran and settled for a second-rounder, the 43rd overall.

Fourth or 43rd? You do the math.

Yup, halfway through February and it’s already been a month to remember in a forgettable way for the Patriots and their football fandom.

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